I understand how people can forget each other's names and have to ask third parties in hushed tones to remind them (heck, Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada made it an art.)

I understand how people can sort of remember names, but still kind of get them wrong - Vidit becomes Vipul, Anita becomes Anupama - nearly there, but not quite.

What I do not understand is why people take it into their head to call me whatever Christian name strikes their fancy. I've been called Anthony, George, Joseph, and all sorts of things bearing little or no resemblance to my actual name. And these misplaced appellations are delivered with the air of someone who is accustomed to using them, instead of the sheepish, uncertain tone with which one delivers a "Vi...pul?" or even the absentmindedness that might characterise something like "As I was saying to Anupama the other day..."

No, no. I get a confident, almost stentorian "George, what were we supposed to look at in this document?" or a firm, self-assured "I think Anthony is right - it would be a problem to enforce such a restriction." (The former is an actual quote from an intern at work yesterday; the latter was uttered by a professor in the middle of class. Both of these people are not in the least unfamiliar with my name.)

Are these people even trying?

Despite how vitriolic I can be on occasion, I have this annoying habit of being sympathetic to people when they're actually down and out. It's especially annoying because the effect is that other people think I utterly despise the subject of my vitriol, when the truth is that I don't care so much once it's out of my system. Whether it's Antonella Barba or Hilary Duff, I just stop caring once I'm done ranting.

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I'm listening to Britney Spears' first album again for the first time in years. It was a birthday present way back in 1999 and was never my favourite album even then, guilty pleasure or otherwise (some of the lyrics would have been considered cringeworthy by any teenager). It has its moments, though...

...but no, I'm still not a Britney fan.